Apparatus for assembling a plated wire memory plane

ABSTRACT

A plated wire memory plane includes a support member, an insulator having a plurality of parallel grooves, a plated wire comprising a conductive wire substrate, an annular magnetic coating uniformly deposited in generally all of the preformed grooves, and a substantially U-shaped word drive line laminate. One leg of said word drive line laminate is positioned between the grooved insulator and the support member. The second leg of the word drive line laminate is positioned to overlie the upper surface of the grooved insulator.

United States Patent Johnson et al. Sept. 3, 1974 APPARATUS FORASSEMBLING A PLATED [56] References Cited WIRE MEMORY PLANE UNITEDSTATES PATENTS [75] Inventors: Wendell C. Johnson, Topang 3,381,3575/1968 Billingsley et al 29/203 MM Nicolas G. Gomez, Los Angeles;3,448,777 6/1969 Scheffer 29 203 MM x Claude H. Foret, Culver City, allof Cahf- Primary ExaminerCharles W. Lanham [73] Assignee: XeroxCorporation, Stamford, Examinercarl Conn. 22 Filed: Nov. 8, 1973 [57]ABSTRACT A plated wire memory plane includes a support mem- [21] Appl'4l4001 ber, an insulator having a plurality of parallel grooves, RelatedUS. Application Data a plated wire comprising a conductive wiresubstrate, [62] Division OfSel. No. 308,367, Nov. 21, 1972,vv1iio1i isan annular magnetic Coating uniformly deposited in a division of $61.No. 106,839, Jan. 15, 1971, Pat. generally all Of the Preformed grooves,and a Substan- No. 3,722,083. tially U-shaped word drive line laminate.One leg of said word drive line laminate is positioned between [52] US.Cl. 29/203 MM, 29/604 the grooved insulator and the support member. The[51] Int. Cl. H0lf 41/00 second leg of the word drive line laminate isposi- [58] Field of Search 29/604, 203 MM, 203 MW, tioned to overlie theupper surface of the grooved in- 29/203 B, 203 P, 203 S, 241, 433;140/93; 254/134 FT; 340/174 VA, 174 PW, 174 MA sulator.

18 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEH 1914 saw 2 or '3 APPARATUS FORASSEMBLING A PLATED WIRE I MEMORY PLANE This is a division of US patentapplication Ser. No. 308,367, filed Nov. 21, 1972, which, in turn, is adivision of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 106,839, filed Jan. 15, 1971,now US. Pat. No. 3,722,083.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION mils having electroplated thereon an 81percent nickel-l9 percent iron alloy having a thickness of about10,000A. During fabrication of the memory element, easy and hard axes ofmagnetization are established in the magnetic film. Generally, the easyaxis is circular about the axis of the wire substrate (i.e.,perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the wire substrate) while thehard axis is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wire. Within theeasy axis plane, the magnetic film is capable of having two stablemagnetization states induced therein, i.e., either clockwise orcounter-clockwise about the axis of the wire. These two stable statesconventionally represent a binary l and 0. Such a memory element isdescribed by T. R. Long, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 31, Supplementto Issue No. 5, pages 123S and 124$ (May 1960).

The plated wire memory planes include a number of such plated wires anda plurality of conductive word drive lines arranged to overlie orpartially encircle the plated wires in a perpendicular, or grid-like,fashion. At each point where a word drive line spatially intersects aplated wire, there is defined a bit storage location. In addition to theaforementioned elements, bit drives and read amplifiers are connected tothe plated wires, in accordance with techniques well known in the art,to complete the memory plane. Such a plated wire memory plane isdescribed by Fedde, Sperry Engineering Review, pages 19-22 (Fall, 1965).

Information is written into the bit storage location by the timecoincident application of a current through the word drive lines(generating a hard axis field) and a bit or steering current applied tothe wire substrate (generating an easy axis field). The polarity of thebit or steering current (i.e., the current along the wire substrate)which establishes the direction of the easy axis field determineswhether a binary l or 0 is written into the bit storage location. Theinformation in the bit storage location is interrogated by applying acurrent pulse to the word drive lines (i.e., applying a hard axis, readfield substantially at right angles to the easy axis of magnetization)to cause the magnetic vector to rotate toward the hard axis. Thepolarity of the voltage pulse detected along the wire substrateindicates the nature of the information previously stored in the bitstorage location. In the non-destructive read-out mode, the magneticvector collapses back to its original vector line within the easy axisplane upon removal of the reading field, whereby the informationpreviously stored in the bit storage location is retained.

The information stored in the bit storage location can be changed to theother form of binary information by the time coincident application of ahard axis field (by passing current through the word drive lines) and an.easy axis field which is opposite to the original direction of themagnetic vector line representing the initially-stored information.-Upon removal of the hard and easy axis fields, the magnetic vectorcollapses to the closest stable magnetization state whereby a 180 changein the orientation of the easy axis magnetic vector occurs (i.e., achange in the binary information stored in the bit storage location hasbeen made).

One of the problems associated with such memory planes is the lengthymanual procedure for inserting the plated wires into the grooves in thesupporting matrix. Not only is this manual process costly, because it isinherently time-consuming, but it readily lends itself to damage of theplated wires, for example by bending, with attendant change in themagnetic properties of the magnetic coating. It would, therefore, bedesirable to have an improved method and means for rapidly facilitatingthe insertion of the plated wires into the preformed grooves in theinsulator matrix with lessened possibility for damage to the magneticcoating as the plated wires are being inserted.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, the primary object of thepresent invention to provide an improved plated wire memory plane.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedplated wire memory plane which facilitates the insertion of the platedwires into preformed grooves in an insulator matrix associatedtherewith.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedmemory plane having a preformedgroove-containing insulator matrix whichextends, in a longitudinal sense, beyond at least one end of anoverlying word drive line matrix, such that, during insertion,

the plated wires are caused to contact the uncovered ends of the groovesat a slight angle to the horizontal whereby insertion of the platedwires is readily facilitated.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means forrapidly and without damage inserting plated wires into preformed groovesin a plated wire memory plane.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro vide means forrapidly inserting plates wires into preformed grooves in a plated wirememory plane with lessened possibility for damage to the magneticcoating on the plated wire.

Yet a still further object of the present invention is to provide anovel processfor inserting plated wires into a plated wire memory plane.

Yet a still further object of the present invention is to provide anovel process for inserting plated wires into a plated wire memory planewherein the plated wires are caused to contact the uncovered ends ofgrooves in a preformed insulator matrix at a slight, acute angle to thehorizontal whereby insertion of the plated wires is readily facilitatedwithout damage to the plated wires.

Yet a still further object of the present invention is to provide animproved process for inserting plated wires into a plated wire memoryplane wherein slight differences in elevation or angle of the platedwire carrier are not as critical as corresponding elevationaldifferences if the plated Wire carrier was horizontally aligned with thepreformed grooves in the memory plane.

These and still further objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent upon consideration of the followingdetailed disclosure.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE lNVENTION These and still further objects, featuresand advantages of the present invention are achieved, in accordancetherewith, by providing a plated wire memory plane including a supportmember, an insulator having a plurality of parallel grooves formedtherein, a plated wire comprising a conductive wire substrate and anannular magnetic coating uniformly deposited thereon in certain,generally all, of the preformed grooves, and a substantially U-shapedword drive line laminate, one leg of said word drive line laminate beingpositioned between the grooved insulator and the support member with thesecond leg of the word driver laminate being positioned to overlie theupper surface of the grooved insulator. The word drive line laminatecomprises a flexible support member having a plurality of conductiveword drivers formed on one surface thereof. The word drive line isconventionally formed on that surface of the flexible support mostclosely adjacent the plated wires (i.e., they are not separated from theplated wires by the support). As is conventional in the art, the worddrive line laminate, having the word drive line thereon, is positionedso the longitudinal axes of the word drive line is perpendicular to thelongitudinal axes of the plated wires, whereby numerous bit storagelocations are defined.

To facilitate the insertion of the plated wires into the memory plane,the grooved insulator extends, in a longitudinal sense, beyond theboundary of at least one end of the word driver laminate. Accordingly,the ends of the grooves, into which the plated wires are to be inserted,are exposed. During insertion of the plated wires, the leading ends ofthe plated wires are caused to contact the exposed ends of the groovesat a slight, acute angle to the plane of the grooves whereby, withcontinued urging, the plated wires are rapidly, easily and withessentially no damage fully inserted into the grooves.

The device for inserting the plated wires into the memory planedescribed above includes means for supporting the memory plane, meansfor supporting a plated wire carrier having a plurality of longitudinalgrooves in registration with the grooves in the insulator memberassociated with the memory plane, certain of the grooves in the wirecarrier having plated wires therein, means to withdraw the plated wiresfrom the wire carrier and to insert the plated wires into thecorresponding grooves in the insulator member which are in registrationtherewith, and means to position the wire carrier support means ata-slight, acute angle with respect to the plane of the grooveswherebythe plated wires as they are being withdrawn from the wirecarrier and inserted into the memory plane are caused to contact theexposed ends of the grooves in the insulator member in the memory planeat said slight, acute angle whereby, under continued urging of theinsertion means, the plated wires are gently and easily, without damage,inserted into the memory plane.

The wire carrier is so positioned that the ends of the plated wiresbeing withdrawn therefrom contact the exposed ends of the grooves in theinsulator member at a slight, acute angle thereto. Thus, as the platedwires are mass loaded into the memory plane, the leading ends of theplated wires see a much longer target as compared to the situation wherethe wire carrier and the memory plane abut each other along the sameplane. Assuming that the plated wires properly contact the exposed endsof the grooves in the insulator member, variations, not in the angle ofapproach, but in the point of contact of the ends of the plated wireswithin the exposed groove ends are not as critical as correspondingelevational differences if the grooved wire carrier is aligned in thesame plane, for example a horizontal plane, with the grooved insulator.For example, if aligned on the same plane, a slight elevationaldifference might cause the plated wires to come into contact with theend portions of the grooved insulator or the end portions of theoverlying word drive line laminate, each of said end portions presentingsurfaces perpendicular to the path of travel of the plated wires. If theplated wires contacted such surfaces, the resultant bending would causedamage to the magnetic properties of the thin magnetic coating on theplated wires so affected, with the result that, at some subsequent time,the plated wire memory plane might become erratic in operation. This isavoided, in accordance with the present invention, by positioning thewire carrier, having the plated wires therein, with respect to thegrooves in the insulator member such that the plated wires are caused tocontact the exposed ends of the receiving grooves at a slight, acuteangle with respect to the plane of the grooves whereby, under urging ofthe insertion means, the plated wires are gradually withdrawn from thewire carrier and gradually and without significant bending inserted intothe memory plane.

The insertion means comprises an automatically or manually operatedroller mechanism which contacts the upper surface of each of the platedwires and urges them, in mass, from the plated wire carrier into thememory plane. Since the plated wires are loaded in mass, loading time isdecreased significantly since all that is required in the positioning ofthe wire carrier with respect to the memory plane and the rotation ofthe roller mechanism until the plated wires are fully inserted. Once thecarrier is positioned, all of the plated wires can be inserted in amatter of seconds. Furthermore, once the adjustments are made for theinsertion of the plated wires into the first memory plane, they need notbe change for subsequent loadings whereby even further savings in timeis achieved. Additionally, since the operator does not contact themagnetic surface of the plated wires during transfer from the wirecarrier to the memory plane, the plated wires do not pick up dirt,moisture, etc. from the operator nor are they subjected to possibledamage as might be occasioned during a manual transfer operation. Eitherof these latter two features can cause undesirable variations in themagnetic properties of the plated wire which, in turn, might causesubsequent erratic operation of the memory plane. This is avoided by thepresent invention wherein the plated wires are mechanically insertedinto the grooves in the memory plane without actual handling thereof bythe operator and with minimum possibility of damage, as by bending,during the insertion step.

Thus, the improved process for fabricating the memory plane of thepresent invention includes the proper positioning of the wire carrier,having the plated wires therein, with respect to the plane of thegrooved insulator such that the plated wires heldby the wire carrier,upon withdrawal therefrom, are caused to contact the exposed ends of thegrooves in the memory plane at a slight, acute angle with respect to theplane of the grooves whereby bending and manual handling of the platedwires is eliminated. Additionally, as indicated above, mass insertion ofthe plated wires in the manner described above not only lessens thepossibility of inadvertent damage to the plated wires but achieves asignificant reduction in the costs associated with the assembly ofplated wire memory planes of the type contemplated herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The nature of the invention will bemore easily understood when it is considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective end view of the improved plated wire memoryplane of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a portion of the memory plane of FIG.1 taken long line 22 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective end view of an alternate form forthe exposed ends of the preformed grooves in a memory plane produced inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, partially in section, of the deviceof the present invention for inserting the plated wires into the memoryplane;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 4, partially broken awayto show the various elements adjacent the roller mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the roller mechanism taken along line66 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a top plan view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6 showing theregistration of the memory plane, particularly the grooves in theinsulator member associated therewith, the plated wires in the groovesin the wire carrier, and the tapered grooves in the guide memberpositioned between the memory plane and the plated wire carrier.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, thereis seen a plated wire memory plane 10 having an epoxy glass board assupport member 12, a thermoset insulator 14 having a plurality ofgrooves or tunnels 16 formed in the surface thereof remote from support12, and a substantially U- shaped word drive line laminate 18 having oneleg 20 positioned between support 12 and grooved insulator l4 and theother leg 22 positioned in overlying relationship with the upper,non-continuous surface 24 of insulator 14. Word driver laminate 18comprises a flexible support member 26 having formed, on the surfacethereof most closely adjacent grooved insulator 14, a plurality ofconductive word drive lines 28. As is conventional in this art, the axesof the word drivers 28 are perpendicular to the longitudinal axes ofgrooves 16 whereby, at the spatial intersections thereof, numerous bitstorage locations are defined.

Support member 12 can itself be supported by a further support member,for example a flat aluminum plate, and, if desired, a second memoryplane, having a similar or exact structure as described above, can besecured to and supported by the bottom surface of such a further supportmember. Appropriate adhesive layers (not shown) are provided to bondadjacent elements of the memory plane securely together.

As can best be seen in FIG. 2, in the finally assembled memory plane, aplated wire 30 is inserted into certain, generally all, of the grooves16. Also as well known in the art, the plated wire can comprise a 5 mildiameter copper-beryllium wire core 32 having a 10,000 A ferromagneticcoating 34 of 81 percent nickel-l9 percent iron uniformly deposited onthe outer surface thereof. If desired, a plated wire having a 10,000 to20,000 A thick intermediate coating of copper between ferromagneticcoating 34 and copper-beryllium wire core 32 can be utilized.

Support member 12 has exposed end portions 36 and 38 and exposed sideportion 40 on which appropriate electrical contacts (not shown) can bepositioned, as is known in this art, for the connection of the numerousplated wires 30 and the numerous word drive lines 28 to current driveand sense means.

In accordance with the present invention, as can best be seen in FIG. 1,grooved insulator 14 extends longitudinally beyond theends of worddriver laminate 18 to expose end portions 42 and 44 thereof. It followsthat the longitudinal ends 46 of grooves or tunnels 16 are also exposed(i.e., they are not covered by leg 22 of word drive line laminate 18).As shown in FIG. 1, the leading edges 48 of plated wires 30 are caused,during insertion, to contact the exposed ends 46 of grooves or tunnels16 at a slight, acute angle a to the plane of the grooves, whichgenerally, is horizontal, whereby with continued urging, the platedwires are gradually, easily and without damage fully inserted into thegrooves until the leading ends 48 extend out from beneath leg 22 of worddrive line laminate 18 adjacent grooved end portion 4 of insulator 14.Because the plated wires are caused to contact exposed groove ends 46 ata slight, acute angle, and have a relatively long target in which tomake such contact (extending essentially from edge 50 of insulator 14 toedge 52 of word driver laminate 18), slight variations in the actualpoint of contact of the plated wires are not critical, assuming thateach plated wire hits the groove into which it is being inserted alongexposed portion 42. Furthermore, since the plated wires are initiallybeing inserted at a slight,

acute angle, there is less possibility of the plated wires hittingsurface 54 of insulator 14 or surface 56 of word drive line laminate 18during insertion. In prior assembly procedures, if a plated wire hitsuch surfaces, the bending of the wire which resulted could causeundesirable changes in the magnetic properties of the magnetic coatingon the plated wire. This required that the particular plated wireelement so bent be discarded. If the bent plated wire was not dischargedbut instead inserted into the memory plane, any changes in the magneticproperties might, at some later date, result in erratic operation of thememory plane. This is avoided in the present invention by initiallyinserting the plated wires at an acute angle with respect to anelongated target (i.e., the exposed ends 46 of grooves 16 in insulator14) such that the plated wires are guided, without bending, into theproper grooves. Since the plated wires are not bent to an undesirableextent during insertion, the magnetic properties are not adverselyaffected whereby one cause for erratic operation of memory planes ofthis type is virtually eliminated.

The acute angle of insertion should be within the range of about to 65and preferable within the range of about 3 to The optimum value for theacute angle of insertion is about 8.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is seen an alternate form for the exposedends 46 of grooves 16. Specifically, grooves 16 are flared outwardlyfrom those portions of grooves 16 underlying word driver laminate 18toward surface 54 of insulator 14. Exposed flared end portions 58 offernot only elongated but wider targets for the plated wires as they arebeing inserted into the memory plane.

Referring to FIGS. 4-7, there is seen a device 60 for loading the platedwires 30 held by wire carrier 62 into memory plane 10. Base 64 hasmounted on the upper surface 66 thereof, adjacent the lefthand end,means 68 to support memory plane 10 in the desired position.Specifically, vertical columns 70 and 72, secured at each lower endthereof to surface 66, support, adjacent the upper ends thereof,horizontal member 74. Member 74 is hinged for rotational movement abouthinge 76 at the upper end of column 70. Secured at each longitudinal endof member 74 are further vertical supports 78 and 80 adapted to have thebottom surfaces of memory plane support 12 accurately aligned thereon.This is achieved by having alignment pins 82 extending above the uppersurfaces of columns 78 and 80 adjacent each of the four, upper cornersof support means 68. Memory plane 10 is accurately aligned by causingthe upper extended portions of pins 82 to pass through holes 84 in eachof the four corners of memory plane support 12. After the memory planeis properly aligned on support means 68, the plane thereof is adjustedby means of set screw 84, the lower end 86 of which is adapted to reston the top 88 of column 72. By rotating set screw 84, member 74 iscaused to rotate about hinge 76 whereby the righthand end of memoryplane 10 is raised or lowered. Normally, the memory plane is alignedessentially in a horizontal plane.

Adjacent the righthand end of device 60 is means 90 for supporting wirecarrier 62 in the desired position so the plated wires, upon insertion,contact exposed ends 46 of grooves 16 at the desired angle. In FIG. 4,means 90 is shown in phantom in the position where the wire carrier isloaded onto the support means and in heavy outline in the position wherethe plated wires in carrier 62 are fed into the aligned grooves inmemory plane 10. Vertical beams 92 and 94 hinged for rotational movementabout hinges 96 and 98, respectively, support horizontal member 100adjacent upper hinges 102 and 104, respectively. Arm 106 on beam 92 isconnected to immovable support 108, on base 64, by means of shaft 110.Through adjustment of set screw 112 the forward position of supportmeans 90 and, accordingly, wire carrier 62, can be controlled. Verticalmembers 114 and 116 mounted on member 100 support wire carrier support 118. Alignment pins 120 cooperate with recesses 122 in the bottom wall ofwire carrier '62 to enable the wire carrier to be properly aligned onsupport 118. Lateral positioning of grooves 124 in carrier 62 withrespect to tapered grooves 126 in guide members 128 and grooves 16 inmemory plane 10 is made by adjusting set screw 130. Vertical adjustmentof the righthand end of support 118 is made by adjusting set screw 132whereby the desired angle of approach of plated wires 30 from wirecarrier 62 into memory plane 10 can be selected. I

Disposed between memory plane support means 68 and wire carrier supportmeans 90 above the path of travel of the plated wires into memory plane10, there is a roller mechanism adapted to contact the upper surfaces ofplated wires 30 carried by wire carrier 62 and urge them, upon rotationthereof, into the grooves in the memory plane. With the orientationestablished in FIGS. 4-6, rotation of roller mechanism 140 in aclockwise direction causes the plated wires to be withdrawn from grooves124 in wire carrier 62, passed over the upper surface 142 of flat guidemember 144, passed through flared grooves 126 in guide member 128, thewider openings 146 of grooves 126 being closer to wire carrier 62, andinto contact with the exposed end portions 46 of grooved insulator 14.As indicated above, the angle of approach made by the plated wires withrespect to the plane of the grooves in the memory plane is previouslyselected by adjustment of set screw 132. Lateral registration of grooves124 and 126 with grooves 16 is made with set screw 130.

Roller mechanism 140 is mounted on support 118 adjacent the edge thereofmost closely adjacent memory plane 10. Specifically, bar 148, mounted onsupport 118 transversely of the direction of travel of the plated wiresduring insertion, has rigidly mounted thereon arm 150 on each side ofthe roller mechanism. Inwardly of arms 150, arms 152 are mounted forrotational movement about hinges 153. Bar 154 connects arms 152 formechanical support. At the ends of arms 152 most closely adjacent wirecarrier 62, there is mounted a shaft 155 adapted to be freely rotated,for example by manually rotating handle 156 connected thereto. Mountedon shaft 155 is an annular member 158 having a plurality of rods 160disposed about the outer periphery thereof. Interwoven between rods 160and annular member 158 is a flexible material 162 adapted to contact theupper surfaces of plated wires 30 when the roller mechanism is in theposition as shown in FIG. 6 (i.e., when the roller mechanism is inposition to urge the plated wires from the wire carrier into the memoryplane). As can best be seen in FIG. 5, the roller mechanism, and theflexible material 162 supported thereby, extends entirely across thewidth of the grooves in memory plane 10. When in the position as shownin FIG. 6, with the flexible material 162 in contact with the platedwires, the flexible material 162 deforms as shown at 164. The flexiblematerial 162 may be made of soft rubber having a hardness of between10-40 shore. By properly adjusting the height of roller mechanism 140 bymeans of set screw 166 operating on the upper surface 168 of horizontalbar 148, sufficient force is applied to the plated wires to urge themout of their grooves 124 in wire carrier 62 and into the grooves 16 inmemory plane 10 in registration therewith. After the plated wires havebeen fully inserted into memory plane 10, by sufficient rotation ofroller mechanism 140, the roller mechanism can be rotated, about hinges153, to the position shown in phantom in FIG. 4. Slight manual pushingof the plated wires further into the grooves in the memory planepositively assures that the plated wires are out of the path of travelof the loading mechanism when it is returned, by manually moving handles170, to the loading position shown in phantom in the righthand side ofFIG. 4, whereby undesirable bending of the plated wires is avoided. I

In summary, the present invention provides a plated wire memory planehaving a grooved or tunneled insulator which has at least one endthereof exposed such that plated wires can be made to contact againstsuch exposed end, at a slight, acute angle thereto, during the platedwire insertion step. The method of inserting the plated wires at such aslight, acute angle, and the mechanical means therefor, enable theplated wires to be rapidly inserted with a minimum of damage to themagnetic coating on the plated wires. It is estimated that the time toinsert the plated wires is decreased by at least an order of magnitudewhile simultaneously decreasing the possibility for inadvertent damageto the plated wires. Additionally, there is minimum operator contactwith the plated wires whereby the possibility of inadvertently damagingor getting dirt, etc. on the magnetic coating is substantially lessened.These features of the present invention eliminate causes for subsequenterratic operation of plated wire memory planes of the type describedherein.

It should be understood that the present invention has been describedwith reference to a presently preferred embodiment thereof and thatother equivalent embodiments are presently contemplated. It shouldfurther be understood by those skilled in the art that various changesin form and detail may be made without departing from the true spiritand scope of the invention. Accordingly, all substitutions, additions,and- /or modifications of the present invention, or to which the presentinvention is readily susceptible, without departing from the true spiritand scope of this invention, are considered a part thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for inserting a plurality of plated wire magnetic storageelements into a plated wire memory plane, the memory plane including aninsulator having a plurality of parallel grooves formed in one surfacethereof. A plurality of conductive word drive lines positionedorthogonally to the longitudinal axes of the grooves, at least a portionof the word drive lines overlying the upper, grooved surface of theinsulator, at least one end of the grooved insulator extending beyond alongitudinal end of the overlying word drive lines thereby presentingexposed groove end portions adapted to receive the leading ends of theplated wires as the plated wires are inserted into the grooves; saiddevice comprising means to support said memory plane, means to support acarrier having a plurality of longitudinal grooves in the upper surfacethereof, the grooves in the carrier adapted to receive and hold theplated wires to be inserted into the grooves in the memory plane, meansto position the grooves in the carrier in registration with the groovesin the memory plane, means to position said carrier support means at aslight, acute angle with respect to the plane of the grooves in thememory plane, means to withdraw the plated wires from the carrier and toinsert the plated wires into the grooves in'the memory plane by causingthe plated wires to contact the exposed end portions of the grooves inthe memory plane at a slight, acute angle with respect to the plane ofthe grooves in the memory plane whereby the plated wires are rapidly andwithout significant bending inserted into the grooves in the memoryplane.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the memory plane is supported by saidmemory plane support means in an essentially horizontal plane, saidmemory plane support means having associated therewith means forchanging the elevation of the end of the memory plane most closelyadjacent said carrier support means.

4. The device of claim 1 further including means to rotate said carriersupport means from a loading position where it receives a platedwire-holding carrier to a feeding position where the plated wires areinserted at said slight, acute angle into the memory plane.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said registration means includes guidemeans positioned between said memory plane support means and saidcarrier support means, said guide means having tapered guide grooves,the larger opening of each of said tapered guide grooves being mostclosely adjacent the plated wires as the plated wires are held in thecarrier.

6. The device of claim 5 further including means to laterally positionsaid guide means, whereby the smaller ends of said tapered guide groovesare placed in registration with the grooves in the memory plane and thelarger openings in said tapered guide grooves are placed in registrationwith the plated wires held in the carrier.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said means to withdraw the plated wiresfrom the carrier and to insert the plated wires in the grooves in thememory plane comprises a rotatable roller mechanism having a flexiblematerial about the periphery thereof, said roller mechanism being sopositioned that, during plated wire insertion, the flexible materialcontacts the upper surfaces of the plated wires as they are held in thecarrier and, upon rotation of said roller mechanism in the properdirection, the plated wires are withdrawn from the carrier and insertedat said slight, acute angle into the grooves in the memory plane.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein said roller mechanism is hinged formovement to a position where said flexible material is out of contactwith the upper surfaces of the plated wires.

9. The device of claim 7 wherein said roller mechanism extendstransversely of the direction of travel of the plated wires into thememory plane for at least the width between lateral end grooves in thememory plane.

10. The device of claim 1 wherein said means to position said carriersupport means at said slight, acute angle with respect to the plane ofthe grooves in the memory plane comprises means to change the elevationof the end of said carrier support means remote from said memory planesupport means.

1 1. Apparatus for making a magnetic memory unit in which a plurality ofplated wire members are inserted into a plurality of generally parallelgrooves formed in an insulator member having a plurality of conductiveword drivers formed on opposite sides of said insulator member with thelongitudinal axes thereof extending generally perpendicular to thelongitudinal axes of the grooves in said insulator member and with atleast one end of the grooved insulator extending beyond said overlyingword drivers, said apparatus comprising,

means for contacting the extending portion of said grooved insulatormember with the leading ends of a plurality of plated wire members at aslight acute angle relative to said insulator member and said wiremembers,

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said wire members relative to said insulator member to register theleading ends of said wire members within said plurality of grooves insaid insulator member, and

means for producing a relative movement between said insulator memberand said wire members to insert said wire members within the groovesunderlying said word drivers.

H2. Apparatus for making a magnetic memory unit of the type in which aplurality of wire members having a coating of magnetic material thereonare inserted into a plurality of generally parallel tunnels extendingwithin an insulator member which insulator member is sandwiched betweena plurality of conductive word drivers extending in a directiongenerally transverse across said insulator member relative to saidtunnels, and a portion of said insulator member is formed to extendbeyond said word drivers to expose longitudinal portions of saidtunnels, said apparatus comprising,

means for supporting a plurality of said wires at a slight acute anglerelative to said insulator member in a generally parallel planar arraywith the spacing between successively adjacent wires substantiallycorresponding to the spacing of successively adjacent tunnels in saidinsulator member,

means for inserting the leading ends of said wire members into theexposed portions of said tunnels with said wire members making a slightacute angle relative to said insulator member,

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said wire members relative to said insulator member to deflect theleading ends of said wire members from said slight acute angle relativeto said insulator member into a general longitudinal orientationrelative to the axes of said tunnels, and

means for producing a relative movement between said insulator memberand said wire members to insert said wire members within the tunnelsunderlying said word drivers.

13. Apparatus for making a plated wire memory structure in which aplurality of plated wire magnetic storage elements are inserted into aninsulator having a plurality of generally parallel tunnels formedtherein and a plurality of conductive word drivers transversely orientedrelative to said tunnels on said insulator on either side of saidtunnels with a portion of said insulator being formed with a portionthereof extending beyond said word drivers to expose longitudinalsections of said tunnels, said apparatus comprising,

means for contacting the extending portion of said insulator with aplurality of plated wire elements at a slight acute angle relative tosaid insulator, means for exerting a force in the longitudinal directionalong the axes of said plated wire elements relative to said insulatorto register the leading ends of said plated wire elements within theexposed longitudinal sections of said tunnels, and means for producing arelative movement between said insulator and said plated wire elementsto deflect the leading ends of said plated wire elements into agenerally longitudinal orientation relative to the axes of said tunnelsand to insert said plated wire elements into said tunnels underlyingsaid word drivers.

14. Apparatus for making a magnetic memory unit in which a plurality ofplated wire members are inserted into a plurality of generally parallelgrooves formed in an insulator member having a plurality of conductiveword drivers formed on opposite sides of said insulator member with thelongitudinal axes thereof extending generally perpendicular to thelongitudinal axes of the grooves in said insulator member and with atleast one end of the grooved insulator extending beyond said overlyingword drivers, said apparatus comprising,

means for supporting a plurality of plated wire members at a slightacute angle relative to said insulator in a generally parallel planararray with the spacing between successively adjacent memberssubstantially conforming to the spacing of successively adjacent groovesin said insulator member,

means for contacting the extending portion of said grooved insulatorwith the leading ends of said plurality of plated wire members at saidslight acute angle relative to said insulator,

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said wire members relative to said insulator member to register theleading ends of said wire members within said plurality of grooves insaid insulator member, and

means for producing a relative movement between said insulator memberand said wire members to insert said wire members within the groovesunderlying said word drivers.

15. Apparatus for making a plated wire memory structure in which aplurality of plated wire elements are inserted into an insulator memberhaving a plurality of generally parallel tunnels formed therein with aplurality of conductive word drivers on said insulator transverselyoverlying said tunnels on either side thereof with a portion of saidinsulator extending beyond said word drivers to expose longitudinalportions of said tunnels, said apparatus comprising,

means for contacting the extending portion of said insulator member witha plurality of plated wire elements at a slight acute angle relative tosaid insulator member to register the leading ends of said plated wireelements within exposed portions of said tunnels, and

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said plated wire elements relative to said insulator members todeflect the leading ends of said plated wire elements into a generallongitudinal orientation relative to the axes of said tunnels and toinsert said wire elements within the tunnels underlying said worddrivers.

16. Apparatusfor making a plated wire memory structure in which aplurality of plated wire magnetic storage elements are inserted into aninsulator having a plurality of generally parallel tunnels formedtherein and a plurality of conductive word drivers transversely orientedrelative to said tunnels on said insulator on either side of saidtunnels, said insulator including a portion thereof extending beyondsaid word drivers to expose longitudinal sections of said tunnels, saidapparatus comprising,

means for supporting a plurality of plated wire elements at a slightacute angle relative to said insulator in a generally parallel planararray with the spacing between successively adjacent wire elementssubstantially corresponding to the spacing of successively adjacenttunnels in said insulator, means for contacting the extending portion ofsaid insulator with said plurality of plated wire elements at saidslight acute angle relative to said insulator,

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said plated wire elements relative to said insulator to register theleading ends of said plated wire elements within the exposedlongitudinal sections of said tunnels, and

means for producing a relative movement between said insulator and saidplated wire elements to deflect the leading ends of said plated wireelements into a generally longitudinal orientation relative to the axesof said tunnels and to insert said plated wire elements into saidtunnels underlying said word drivers.

17. Apparatus for making a magnetic memory unit of the type in which aplurality of wire members having a coating of magnetic material thereonare inserted into a plurality of generally parallel tunnels extendingwithin an insulator member which insulator member is sandwiched betweena plurality of conductive word drivers extending in a directiongenerally transverse across said insulator member relative to saidtunnels, and said insulator member includes a portion thereof extendingbeyond said word drivers to expose longitudinal portions of saidtunnels, said apparatus comprising,

means for inserting the leading ends of said wire members into theexposed portions of said tunnels with said wire members making a slightacute angle relative to said insulator member,

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said wire members relative to said insulator member to deflect theleading ends of said wire members from said slight acute angle relativeto said insulator member into a general longitudinal orientationrelative to the axes of said tunnels, and

means for producing a relative movement between said insulator memberand said wire members to insert said wire members within the tunnelsunderlying said word drivers,

18. Apparatus for making a plated wire memory structure in which aplurality of plated wire elements are inserted into an insulator memberhaving a plurality of generally parallel tunnels formed therein with aplurality of conductive word drivers on said insulator transverselyoverlying said tunnels on either side thereof with a portion of saidinsulator extending beyond said word drivers to expose longitudinalportions of said tunnels, said apparatus comprising,

means for supporting a plurality of plated wire elements at a slightacute angle relative to said insulator member in a generally parallelarray with the spacing between successively adjacent wire elementssubstantially corresponding to the spacing of successively adjacenttunnels in said insulator member,

means for contacting the extending portion of said insulator member withsaid plurality of plated wire elements at said slight acute anglerelative to said insulator to register the leading ends of said platedwire elements within exposed portions of said tunnels, and

means for exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axesof said plated wire elements relative to said insulator member todeflect the leading ends of said plated wire elements into a generallongitudinal orientation relative to the axis of said tunnels and toinsert said wire elements within the tunnels underlying said worddrivers.

1. A device for inserting a plurality of plated wire magnetic storageelements into a plated wire memory plane, the memory plane including aninsulator having a plurality of parallel grooves formed in one surfacethereof. A plurality of conductive word drive lines positionedorthogonally to the longitudinal axes of the grooves, at least a portionof the word drive lines overlying the upper, grooved surface of theinsulator, at least one end of the grooved insulator extending beyond alongitudinal end of the overlying word drive lines thereby presentingexposed groove end portions adapted to receive the leading ends of theplated wires as the plated wires are inserted into the grooves; saiddevice comprising means to support said memory plane, means to support acarrier having a plurality of longitudinal grooves in the upper surfacethereof, the grooves in the carrier adapted to receive and hold theplated wires to be inserted into the grooves in the memory plane, meansto position the grooves in the carrier in registration with the groovesin the memory plane, means to position said carrier support means at aslight, acute angle with respect to the plane of the grooves in thememory plane, means to withdraw the plated wires from the carrier and toinsert the plated wires into the Grooves in the memory plane by causingthe plated wires to contact the exposed end portions of the grooves inthe memory plane at a slight, acute angle with respect to the plane ofthe grooves in the memory plane whereby the plated wires are rapidly andwithout significant bending inserted into the grooves in the memoryplane.
 2. The device of claim 1 further including means associated withsaid memory plane support means for adjusting the plane of said memoryplane when it is supported by said memory plane support means.
 3. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein the memory plane is supported by said memoryplane support means in an essentially horizontal plane, said memoryplane support means having associated therewith means for changing theelevation of the end of the memory plane most closely adjacent saidcarrier support means.
 4. The device of claim 1 further including meansto rotate said carrier support means from a loading position where itreceives a plated wire-holding carrier to a feeding position where theplated wires are inserted at said slight, acute angle into the memoryplane.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein said registration means includesguide means positioned between said memory plane support means and saidcarrier support means, said guide means having tapered guide grooves,the larger opening of each of said tapered guide grooves being mostclosely adjacent the plated wires as the plated wires are held in thecarrier.
 6. The device of claim 5 further including means to laterallyposition said guide means, whereby the smaller ends of said taperedguide grooves are placed in registration with the grooves in the memoryplane and the larger openings in said tapered guide grooves are placedin registration with the plated wires held in the carrier.
 7. The deviceof claim 1 wherein said means to withdraw the plated wires from thecarrier and to insert the plated wires in the grooves in the memoryplane comprises a rotatable roller mechanism having a flexible materialabout the periphery thereof, said roller mechanism being so positionedthat, during plated wire insertion, the flexible material contacts theupper surfaces of the plated wires as they are held in the carrier and,upon rotation of said roller mechanism in the proper direction, theplated wires are withdrawn from the carrier and inserted at said slight,acute angle into the grooves in the memory plane.
 8. The device of claim7 wherein said roller mechanism is hinged for movement to a positionwhere said flexible material is out of contact with the upper surfacesof the plated wires.
 9. The device of claim 7 wherein said rollermechanism extends transversely of the direction of travel of the platedwires into the memory plane for at least the width between lateral endgrooves in the memory plane.
 10. The device of claim 1 wherein saidmeans to position said carrier support means at said slight, acute anglewith respect to the plane of the grooves in the memory plane comprisesmeans to change the elevation of the end of said carrier support meansremote from said memory plane support means.
 11. Apparatus for making amagnetic memory unit in which a plurality of plated wire members areinserted into a plurality of generally parallel grooves formed in aninsulator member having a plurality of conductive word drivers formed onopposite sides of said insulator member with the longitudinal axesthereof extending generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axes ofthe grooves in said insulator member and with at least one end of thegrooved insulator extending beyond said overlying word drivers, saidapparatus comprising, means for contacting the extending portion of saidgrooved insulator member with the leading ends of a plurality of platedwire members at a slight acute angle relative to said insulator memberand said wire members, means for exerting a force in the longitudinaldirection along the axes of said wire members relative to said insulatormember to register The leading ends of said wire members within saidplurality of grooves in said insulator member, and means for producing arelative movement between said insulator member and said wire members toinsert said wire members within the grooves underlying said worddrivers.
 12. Apparatus for making a magnetic memory unit of the type inwhich a plurality of wire members having a coating of magnetic materialthereon are inserted into a plurality of generally parallel tunnelsextending within an insulator member which insulator member issandwiched between a plurality of conductive word drivers extending in adirection generally transverse across said insulator member relative tosaid tunnels, and a portion of said insulator member is formed to extendbeyond said word drivers to expose longitudinal portions of saidtunnels, said apparatus comprising, means for supporting a plurality ofsaid wires at a slight acute angle relative to said insulator member ina generally parallel planar array with the spacing between successivelyadjacent wires substantially corresponding to the spacing ofsuccessively adjacent tunnels in said insulator member, means forinserting the leading ends of said wire members into the exposedportions of said tunnels with said wire members making a slight acuteangle relative to said insulator member, means for exerting a force inthe longitudinal direction along the axes of said wire members relativeto said insulator member to deflect the leading ends of said wiremembers from said slight acute angle relative to said insulator memberinto a general longitudinal orientation relative to the axes of saidtunnels, and means for producing a relative movement between saidinsulator member and said wire members to insert said wire memberswithin the tunnels underlying said word drivers.
 13. Apparatus formaking a plated wire memory structure in which a plurality of platedwire magnetic storage elements are inserted into an insulator having aplurality of generally parallel tunnels formed therein and a pluralityof conductive word drivers transversely oriented relative to saidtunnels on said insulator on either side of said tunnels with a portionof said insulator being formed with a portion thereof extending beyondsaid word drivers to expose longitudinal sections of said tunnels, saidapparatus comprising, means for contacting the extending portion of saidinsulator with a plurality of plated wire elements at a slight acuteangle relative to said insulator, means for exerting a force in thelongitudinal direction along the axes of said plated wire elementsrelative to said insulator to register the leading ends of said platedwire elements within the exposed longitudinal sections of said tunnels,and means for producing a relative movement between said insulator andsaid plated wire elements to deflect the leading ends of said platedwire elements into a generally longitudinal orientation relative to theaxes of said tunnels and to insert said plated wire elements into saidtunnels underlying said word drivers.
 14. Apparatus for making amagnetic memory unit in which a plurality of plated wire members areinserted into a plurality of generally parallel grooves formed in aninsulator member having a plurality of conductive word drivers formed onopposite sides of said insulator member with the longitudinal axesthereof extending generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axes ofthe grooves in said insulator member and with at least one end of thegrooved insulator extending beyond said overlying word drivers, saidapparatus comprising, means for supporting a plurality of plated wiremembers at a slight acute angle relative to said insulator in agenerally parallel planar array with the spacing between successivelyadjacent members substantially conforming to the spacing of successivelyadjacent grooves in said insulator member, means for contacting theextending portion of said grooved insulator with the leading ends ofsaid plurality of plated wire members at said slight acute anglerelative to said insulator, means for exerting a force in thelongitudinal direction along the axes of said wire members relative tosaid insulator member to register the leading ends of said wire memberswithin said plurality of grooves in said insulator member, and means forproducing a relative movement between said insulator member and saidwire members to insert said wire members within the grooves underlyingsaid word drivers.
 15. Apparatus for making a plated wire memorystructure in which a plurality of plated wire elements are inserted intoan insulator member having a plurality of generally parallel tunnelsformed therein with a plurality of conductive word drivers on saidinsulator transversely overlying said tunnels on either side thereofwith a portion of said insulator extending beyond said word drivers toexpose longitudinal portions of said tunnels, said apparatus comprising,means for contacting the extending portion of said insulator member witha plurality of plated wire elements at a slight acute angle relative tosaid insulator member to register the leading ends of said plated wireelements within exposed portions of said tunnels, and means for exertinga force in the longitudinal direction along the axes of said plated wireelements relative to said insulator members to deflect the leading endsof said plated wire elements into a general longitudinal orientationrelative to the axes of said tunnels and to insert said wire elementswithin the tunnels underlying said word drivers.
 16. Apparatus formaking a plated wire memory structure in which a plurality of platedwire magnetic storage elements are inserted into an insulator having aplurality of generally parallel tunnels formed therein and a pluralityof conductive word drivers transversely oriented relative to saidtunnels on said insulator on either side of said tunnels, said insulatorincluding a portion thereof extending beyond said word drivers to exposelongitudinal sections of said tunnels, said apparatus comprising, meansfor supporting a plurality of plated wire elements at a slight acuteangle relative to said insulator in a generally parallel planar arraywith the spacing between successively adjacent wire elementssubstantially corresponding to the spacing of successively adjacenttunnels in said insulator, means for contacting the extending portion ofsaid insulator with said plurality of plated wire elements at saidslight acute angle relative to said insulator, means for exerting aforce in the longitudinal direction along the axes of said plated wireelements relative to said insulator to register the leading ends of saidplated wire elements within the exposed longitudinal sections of saidtunnels, and means for producing a relative movement between saidinsulator and said plated wire elements to deflect the leading ends ofsaid plated wire elements into a generally longitudinal orientationrelative to the axes of said tunnels and to insert said plated wireelements into said tunnels underlying said word drivers.
 17. Apparatusfor making a magnetic memory unit of the type in which a plurality ofwire members having a coating of magnetic material thereon are insertedinto a plurality of generally parallel tunnels extending within aninsulator member which insulator member is sandwiched between aplurality of conductive word drivers extending in a direction generallytransverse across said insulator member relative to said tunnels, andsaid insulator member includes a portion thereof extending beyond saidword drivers to expose longitudinal portions of said tunnels, saidapparatus comprising, means for inserting the leading ends of said wiremembers into the exposed portions of said tunnels with said wire membersmaking a slight acute angle relative to said insulator member, means forexerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axes oF saidwire members relative to said insulator member to deflect the leadingends of said wire members from said slight acute angle relative to saidinsulator member into a general longitudinal orientation relative to theaxes of said tunnels, and means for producing a relative movementbetween said insulator member and said wire members to insert said wiremembers within the tunnels underlying said word drivers.
 18. Apparatusfor making a plated wire memory structure in which a plurality of platedwire elements are inserted into an insulator member having a pluralityof generally parallel tunnels formed therein with a plurality ofconductive word drivers on said insulator transversely overlying saidtunnels on either side thereof with a portion of said insulatorextending beyond said word drivers to expose longitudinal portions ofsaid tunnels, said apparatus comprising, means for supporting aplurality of plated wire elements at a slight acute angle relative tosaid insulator member in a generally parallel array with the spacingbetween successively adjacent wire elements substantially correspondingto the spacing of successively adjacent tunnels in said insulatormember, means for contacting the extending portion of said insulatormember with said plurality of plated wire elements at said slight acuteangle relative to said insulator to register the leading ends of saidplated wire elements within exposed portions of said tunnels, and meansfor exerting a force in the longitudinal direction along the axes ofsaid plated wire elements relative to said insulator member to deflectthe leading ends of said plated wire elements into a generallongitudinal orientation relative to the axis of said tunnels and toinsert said wire elements within the tunnels underlying said worddrivers.